reveriesociety_
Written on Sep 18, 2015
Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush will relish this intense paranormal love story featuring Romeo and Juliet, literary history's most tragic couple, who meet again, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.
The most tragic love story in history . . .
Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.
"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- ISBN13 9780385740166
- Publish Date 9 August 2011
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 8 August 2015
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Random House USA Inc
- Imprint Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 320
- Language English
Reviews
stefu1
Written on Dec 30, 2013
jeannamichel
Written on Jun 20, 2013
As much as I love the cover, because it is beautiful and was the main reason I picked it up in the first place, the cover has nothing to do with the story. It’s a gorgeous cover and the tagline: The greatest love story ever told is a lie is a compelling idea that will make any Shakespeare lover read further. But you don’t need to be a Shakespeare scholar to love this book: actually, you can have barely any knowledge of Shakespeare’s work to follow the story.
Jay wrote Juliet Immortal in such a way that it tells an entirely different new story of Romeo and Juliet that others could not even imagine. Stacey Jay has certainly taken the famous play apart and created something truly original and never-before-thought-of. Also, her writing style is paced just so that will make readers interested on the next plot twist.
At first, I was under the impression this was going to be a Romeo and Juliet retelling- where they were vampires. I mean, I was ready for some blood sucking fiends, and heart wrenching romance. What I got was entirely unexpected and even better than I had hoped. There was living corpses, light and dark forces, high school drama, and soul mates. The only thing that got on my nerves was the one mean girl that showed up.
Is it a requirement that if you are going to write a book set in high school, you include at least one mean girl? Is that a thing, because a lot of authors have been writing books with at least one mean girl in their books, lately, and I can tell you right now that I have never encountered a mean girl in all my four years of high school. Gemma is her name and as much as the other characters were great and well-thought out, Gemma was just your ordinary mean girl who couldn’t even be redeemed by her sad childhood because she was just plain mean. The other characters balanced out Gemma. Ben, the boy who may have a dark past, was such a gentleman! Of course, you can’t have a Shakespeare retelling without stars: Juliet and Romeo. Juliet knew how to handle everything thrown her way; she was not the gushy little girl she was in Shakespeare’s work—she’s grown up a lot since then. Romeo, on the other hand, may be sincere but it’s hard to get past the rotting corpse on the outside to truly see what’s going on in his mind. However, I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
The ending was a bit surprising. I wasn’t expecting it to go in the direction it went. I hate giving things away so I won’t say much. However, I wonder how Jay is going to write a sequel because there are many directions she could take. The sequel is already released, Romeo Redeemed.
If you have time for this one, definitely check it out. Juliet Immortal is a new take on Romeo and Juliet, where Juliet takes center stage as our narrator in present day California. She is sent to bring two soul mates together, when Romeo is sent to tear them apart.
Kelly
Written on Jan 16, 2013
And she would have loved it.
Fast forward to 32 year old me, present day... I thought it was good, not brilliant, but entertaining. Ideal for a younger audience.
*walks off dancing* it's just a jump to the left... and a step to the riiiiiiight
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Aug 11, 2012
The tale begins when we learn what really happen to poor Juliet. Flash forward to present day and Juliet Capulet Montague finds herself in the body of high school senior, Ariel Dragland. Ariel has just been in a car accident with a boy named Dylan. As Juliet comes to, in Ariel’s body; Ariel’s memories come flooding in. Only seconds before, Ariel tried to kill Dylan and herself . She had just learned he went on a date with her because he bet his friends he could sleep with “the freak.” As Juliet learns about Ariel’s life, she vows to make things better for her while she completes her mission. As she struggles to get out of the car, Dylan wakes up…only it’s not Dylan its Romeo and he’s come to kill her! She manages to escape but Romeo is fast on her heels. She gets to the road and jumps in a car belonging to Ben. As Ben takes her home Juliet feels safe and at ease with this young man. They share an intense moment. The tale that unfolds held me spell bound as Juliet works to complete her assignment, stop Romeo and keep her own feelings in check.
Juliet is an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. Since her death she has been fighting against Romeo and the Mercenaries. She fights to help soul mates and preserve true love. This trip to earth is different for Juliet because she starts to fall for Ben. I really liked Juliet and connected with her as she tried to set thing right. Romeo realizes what he did to Juliet was a mistake and tries to fix things before it’s too late. Unfortunately his ideas of fixing things only complicate things. To make matters worse his leaders are unhappy with him and intend to stop him. My feelings were all over the place with regard to Romeo. I assumed one thing only to have it revealed that I was wrong, wrong, wrong! I loved the ride the author took me on concerning him. Ben was sweet and complicated. I will admit I was a little smitten with him. Gemma was Ariel’s only friend and I wanted to smack her upside the head one minute and hug her the next.
The tale takes place over a span of three days. While this kept the pace moving, it also led to confusion at times. I love world building and a lack of details, can keep me from getting lost within the pages. It’s an element I love and at times throughout the book I screamed for more detail and depth. When I finished reading and sat back to digest the story that had just unfolded, I found myself pleased that the author kept me in the dark. All the highs I felt as the story unfolded were because of this shroud of mystery. Jay’s writing style was delightful and she provided the pieces as we needed them despite my eagerness. The tale she spun was believable and flowed beautifully from pen to paper. I am not a fan of insta-love but I do believe in soul mates and it was necessary for this tale. Now the ending has two climatic scenes. One was downright cheesy. I do not require an ending where things are tied up in a neat little bow. I am perfectly comfortable imagining my own. I can spend hours creating one in my mind. I know a lot of you do not like open endings and will be delighted this one comes wrapped up for you. For me it felt wrong and forced almost like it wasn't the authors original ending. Now the second ending was fantastic. It has a cliff-hanger albeit a small one. It’s just enough to have me excited about Romeo Immortal.